Movies

Alanis Morissette leads underwhelming ‘Radio Free Albemuth’

Alanis Morissette is a singer receiving alien transmissions in this 1980s-set Philip K. Dick story, directed by John Alan Simon.

Record store clerk Nick Brady (Jonathan Scarfe) begins experiencing mysterious visions, which compel him to move to LA and get a music industry job. There, he finds Morissette’s Sylvia, who’s been appearing in his dreams. Together they write a subversive pop hit that will galvanize the overthrow of the fascistic US government. Observing all this is Nick’s friend, Dick himself (Shea Whigham), who moves from incredulous to involved.

Despite the dramatic dystopia, performances here are uniformly low-affect, which isn’t helpful given the exposition-heavy dialogue and unremarkable set (though Nick’s extraterrestrial visions have a pleasantly kitschy look). Also puzzling is the fact that the pivotal song is not actually performed by Morissette.

It’s pretty underwhelming, though interesting for its premise — a semi-autobiographical account of Dick’s own trippy experiences in the ’70s.